One of Danny 42C’s many priceless stories on the Brevet thread involved his command of 1315 Flight, set up in 1945 to carry out mustard gas trials on India’s Malabar coast. He takes up the story after requesting a small boat for air-sea rescue.
I was allocated a 24 ft Bomb Scow, whatever that might be. However, before this fine vessel could appear, I had to prepare moorings which were specified as three stone blocks chained together and terminating in a single chain and buoy. The length but not the size of this chain was specified. That, I suppose, would depend on the size of the boat.
While the CDRE were casting about for the stone, and masons to cut it to size, it fell to me to produce the chain from RAF sources. No mariners being to hand, Sgt Williams and I looked down the Stores lists, and decided that one-inch chain should be about right for a vessel of our size. The demand went in to the Maintenance Unit
About the middle of April I got my marching orders,1340 Flight had ceased to have any purpose and I told the MU to cancel the chain. My one and only command had lasted for only 13 months. A couple of days before I left, there was an agitated message from the local stationmaster. My chain had arrived, it was taking up a lot of room, could I please come and take it away? I went to have a look. No, I couldn't! When we put the demand in, we had blithely assumed the "one inch" referred to the overall size of a single link (well, it stands to reason,doesn't it?)
Unfortunately, it doesn't: it's the thickness of the rod from which the links are forged that counts. What we had specified would serve as anchor cable for the Queen Mary or at least a Mersey ferry, and I think there were 100 fathoms of it. Of course the stuff shouldn't have been sent at all; it was the MU's mistake as we'd cancelled the order. We signalled them to come and take it back.
Meanwhile this monstrous pile was taking up half the goods yard, and the stationmaster was tearing his hair out. I left for Bombay and never did hear the end of it. But everyone was in the winding-down phase, chaos reigned and I would not be at all surprised if the huge heap of rusting chain is there yet.